Mrs Dalton said Tara Moriarty, who is also the minister for regional NSW, had failed to stand up for critical industries within her portfolio.
She said the loss of 78 SunRice jobs across Leeton (10) and Deniliquin (68) was the direct result of government water buybacks, warning regional communities were now paying the price for long-ignored concerns.
Mrs Dalton said she had repeatedly raised the alarm in parliament about the consequences of removing productive water from the Murray-Darling Basin.
“I’ve been singing out about water buybacks,” she said.
“Every question in parliament since Chris Minns was elected (premier) has been to him about water.
“I’ve been telling them this is what’s going to happen, and the inevitable did happen.”
Mrs Dalton said the government now held more water than it could track, describing current management as “sloppy” and lacking transparency.
“They can’t tell me what water they’ve got,” she said.
“I had a bill in parliament to put it all on one portal, and it was voted down.
“I’ll re-jig that bill again after the next election, if I’m re-elected.”
Mrs Dalton said the Murray-Darling Basin Plan had imposed significant costs on communities such as Deniliquin, despite repeated inquiries and submissions from local leaders.
“It’s a multi-billion-dollar-a-year cost being carried by communities that have had little say in its design,” she said.
“They have not listened to us one iota.”
Mrs Dalton said Ms Moriarty had “stood by silently” while productive water was removed from the region and jobs disappeared.
“You can’t claim to be a champion of agriculture while slowly dismantling the industries and communities that depend on it,” she said.
“Our area produces 85 per cent of the food for NSW; we are important. Yet where are they with all of this?”
Mrs Dalton said the impacts of the SunRice decision would extend far beyond the mill itself.
“It’s the communities that really suffer, and the compensation is not there for businesses here,” she said.
“It’s a winding down, when one business slows, others feel it too.”
Mrs Dalton pointed to recent government support for an aluminium firm in the Hunter Valley as evidence of political favouritism.
“They’re propping up that industry because it’s a marginal seat,” she said.
“They’re propping up businesses there and just letting us go. We don’t need propping up, what we need is a fair go.”
Her comments echo concerns raised locally about the broader flow-on effects of the SunRice cuts.
Federal Member for Farrer David Farley is also raising his voice on the issue, speaking in parliament on Tuesday.
“Drought is real, but ... these job losses are a direct result of the Federal Government's water buyback program, and specifically the 2023 Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act,” Mr Farley said.
“All the rice industry is asking for is not a huge government handout like Tomago (the Hunter Valley aluminium firm) received.
“It's merely asking to put the water back into productivity and capacity at a fraction of the cost.
“Farrer built an industry that feeds the world. These Murray-Darling Basin workers did not ask to be sacrificed.
“They deserve the same urgency and investment as any other regional workforce.”
11°C